


The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow

by lilithtorch2



Series: The Princess and the Assassin [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Angels, Angst, Demons, Devil, F/M, Gen, Hell, Humanity, Potential parallels with religious themes, Violence, fairy tale, folktale, legend, myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-25
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-02 15:21:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1058374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilithtorch2/pseuds/lilithtorch2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A folktale of how the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow discovered their humanity in a world of darkness. Introduction to The Princess and the Assassin series. Explicit rating due to the settings of heaven and hell, implementation of the seven deadly sins, and depictions of violence.</p><p>2.12.2014 UPDATE: Added Chapter 6 - Sloth</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Tragedy of the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow

**Author's Note:**

> Avenged Sevenfold "Beast and the Harlot"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you squint, you'll notice little nods to OUAT and OUATiW here too.

From the depths of a burning hell were forged two creatures who would become the top captains of the tyrannical Devil: the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow.

The Winter Soldier was born the day the angels found a way for Hell to freeze over. When the Devil retaliated, he created a pale skeletal demon who was completely undeterred by the ice and the cold. This demon massacred them all, and where the angels once stood, there were only burnt black feathers and ash raining down from the sky.

The Black Widow was a venomous spider, streaked in vermilion, created by the Devil to recruit more souls to his army. To corrupt them, the Devil merely sent her to lure unsuspecting men (and women, if they were so inclined) to her web of poison. If your time was up, you would be marked with one kiss from her. There would be no one to help you then.

They were the guardians and personal bodyguards of the King of Hell himself. As long as the Devil lived, no blasphemer would ever spread slander and libel to the lambs of the outside world.

But one day the Black Widow found a bauble of light in their fiery world of darkness. This light was alien, pure. She shared it with the Winter Soldier. Curious about the light, the two agents of Hell examined it, touching it and speaking to it. For one glorious moment, the light enveloped them and for the first time, they felt peace. In this light, they looked at each other with new eyes. Their tough outer shells had slowly peeled away, revealing beautiful spirits underneath. They did not know until now that they could look like this.

They thought they only existed to serve the Devil, and had never seen each other this way before. What was it they felt for each other? Love? That was a new feeling.

But before they could understand what this meant for them, the bauble disappeared, and the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow watched, disappointed, as their outer shells returned. He was the skeletal ice demon again; she had returned to being a red spider. But they remembered what the light had given them, and they realized how tired and weary they had become. They wanted to stop, and she suggested another world, Heaven, where they might start over and where no one would know them. No more killing.

He agreed. Something in that light changed him permanently and he thought that if she wanted to go elsewhere, then he would too, or die trying to help her.

So when they made the decision to break their contracts with the Devil to find peace in Heaven, they ensured their destruction and were doomed to a fate worse than death.

To elaborate more on the tragedy of the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow and how the bauble of light corrupted the two more than they could ever know, we must examine the seven demons they were sent to kill.


	2. Gluttony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EAT IT EAT IT EAT IT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Death by firebird...and Gluttony pulls an Ozzy.
> 
> Most of the lyrics don't even fit this chapter but first thing I thought of when writing about Gluttony was The Rev's "EAT IT EAT IT EAT IT" in "A Little Piece of Heaven"

The first demon was the easiest of all the demons to kill. He was a large rotund shadow with three white slits to represent his eyes and his mouth. He was a grotesque, bubbly gourmand; food was his passion and his life. Every single second all he could think about was to eat it, eat it, eat it all! Eat all the food! All of it!

Gluttony had only two requirements for his personal chefs: only the best high-quality ingredients in the world or the rarest of components. Fresh vegetables would be purchased from an unrivaled market in the human world on the same day. Animals had to be slaughtered and butchered the same morning. As for fish; they had to be caught right when the sun rose to greet the sky. He did not care how his minions found these ingredients. The dishes had to be drizzled with demonic salt and prepared with knives forged from Hell’s Kitchen; he could have no less. As for dessert, he preferred two bowls of cream made with newborn butterfly’s wings and the bones and nerves of his enemies. If they did not obey he would devour their hearts and make pie out of their brains as punishment.

“Eat! Eat! Eat!” The demon cried. “I want food! Give me food!”

The only way to speak with the demon was through delicacies, and that was exactly what the Winter Soldier and his Black Widow did. In their human forms, they entered Gluttony’s lair.

“Why, Winter Soldier! Black Widow! Why have you graced us with your presence?” Gluttony greeted them.

“Friendly visit,” the Winter Soldier said simply.

“We have killed one of the firebirds for you,” the Black Widow explained, “have you not wondered what such a bird tasted like?”

“Firebirds!” Gluttony laughed uproariously. “None of my lieutenants have ever been able to catch them.” He pointed at his large figure. “And you know _I_ can’t do it myself, or I would have caught it a long time ago. Do you know, my men only found its feathers? I’m sure you’re wondering how I can eat feathers, but you know, I ate it all the same. Ha ha!”

Gluttony’s servants laughed with him; even though the two demons were not amused, the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow chuckled. Gluttony yanked the dead bird from the Black Widow’s hands and ravenously examined the corpse.

“Eat up, glutton,” the Winter Soldier ordered, with his expression unreadable, “the bird is best served raw.”

Gluttony grinned even wider. “Yes! Yes! Of course!”

“You should start with its head,” the Winter Soldier recommended, “I am sure it will enhance your vigor.”

Gluttony ripped off the corpse’s head and ate it, brain, eyes, beak and all. “Tasty! Delicious! Are there no more birds for me?”

The Winter Soldier, ignoring the fact that Gluttony was ungrateful, explained that these creatures were elusive; this one was the only one they could find. “Spider, you have something else for our generous host, do you not?”

The spider procured a small vial. “The tears of the firebird.” She announced unceremoniously. “It will quench your thirst for centuries.”

Gluttony’s eyes widened gleefully as he chugged down the vial of tears. But his expression changed when he sensed that something was wrong. He clutched at his throat and found he could not breathe. He looked at them in shock as if to say, “What did you do?!” The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow only watched as Gluttony’s horrible figure expanded and expanded and his eyes burst from their sockets. The blood poured down from all of his orifices, and soon it poured down from the holes the expanding skin had formed. The chefs and servants tried in vain to save their lord, but he only burst into guts and intestines. The whole room was stained crimson.

“Does _anyone else_ want to say something about Our King?” The Black Widow cried out.

The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow stood with their backs to each other, their weapons drawn in case someone wanted to avenge the bastard.

No one did.

“Let this be a warning to the others who dare smear His King!” the Winter Soldier snarled, looking around.

The spider added, “We are coming for them!”

But what she dared not say to her comrade yet...was that she longed for a little piece of Heaven.


	3. Lust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something tells me that there would have been other things besides just combat and espionage when it comes to working for a shady organization, especially if you're female. And just because it's your 'job' doesn't make it any less traumatizing. O_O''''
> 
> Also, I always pictured the Winter Soldier being like Richard Harrow: appears out of nowhere with a weapon in his hand and doesn't say much.

The next demon that the Devil ordered the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow to eliminate was a man known only as “Lust.” Lust was an easy person to identify. He was a smiling perverted man who enjoyed the company of women. Demons, humans, he didn’t care, as long as they ended up nude. He didn’t care what the women were thinking, he only wanted, wanted, wanted and grabbed them wherever he could. He’d slap them on their buttocks, tear their clothes, fondle their breasts, all while grinning and pouring incomprehensible amounts of alcohol. If he found a target he’d beat her down and force himself on her, ignoring her whining and complaining.

The Devil had sent the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow after him because he was trash. Even though the creatures of hell were not civilized and immoral, there were still certain rules to be followed. And by violating his fellow beings, Lust had violated those rules.

So the Black Widow did what she did best, what she was born to do. She changed her form to that of a human, but it was nothing pure like the spirit she had seen with the help of the bauble. It was easy to lure in Lust. She eyed him when he was surrounded by a group of other chatty, giggling women. When he looked back at her, he turned his smirk toward her and sent the other women away, motioning for the Black Widow to come to him. The Black Widow’s red hair promised magic, romance. Her curves and the way the red of her dress intensified her eyes hinted at a sexual experience that none of Lust's other women had. The curve of the Black Widow's lips pretended to laugh and grin at every joke that Lust had to offer, and the way she pressed her buxom chest against him only served to make him crazier and crazier with every second. He forced his tongue down her throat and bit her lip. She could feel the monster's hardness against her and she almost broke character, but for what she needed to do, she had to keep her emotions in check. Lust wanted her, wanted to shove himself into her, and wanted her to worship every fiber of his being. He wanted control over her supple, limber body and wanted to taste her, and told her as much. For the trap to work, the Black Widow had to agree even though her heart was disgusted.

She lured him, giggling, back into her lair. Lust did exactly as he said he would, and she pretended to enjoy it all. She kissed Lust and stroked him and caressed him in places she didn't like and held onto the strange feeling of love that she discovered she had for the Winter Soldier. Every touch of hers made the man shiver with delight and groan with pleasure and he wanted to eat the Black Widow. Lust immediately moved on top of her. She wrapped her legs around the man but closed her eyes and hoped she would never have to go through with this.

It was at this point that Lust felt the tip of something metallic pressed against the back of his neck.

“Hello,” the Winter Soldier greeted, “we are here to cleanse our home of its filth.”

Lust realized his mistake and quickly saw that he was dealing with the captains of Hell. He did not know that the Black Widow could acquire a human form until it was too late. “You bitch! You horrid bitch!” Lust screamed at the Black Widow, his face stricken with fear. “You tricked me!”

Right as Lust started to choke the Black Widow, the Winter Soldier waved his katana and slashed off Lust’s head. He looked on indifferently as the blood and the gore spattered everywhere and the man's head, still holding a surprised expression, rolled against the wall. He didn't care when some of the blood spilled on his bony face. The headless body collapsed on the Black Widow, and she immediately pushed it off of her. She quickly got off of the bed and sat down on the ground, hugging her knees. Something about the bauble of light had corrupted her. She could no longer lure and kill without having this affect her psyche. She heard the Winter Soldier tell her it was time to go, but she could not leave. She had done this many times before. Why was she so sad this time?

"Spider, what's wrong?"

The Winter Soldier did not understand what was troubling his precious spider, but moved closer to her and hugged her close to him. He heard her whimpering and patted her on the back. He tried to assure her that this is what they were created to do, that this is what their role in this dark world was, but she only cried. The killing was taking its toll on the spider's mind. In that quiet room still filled with blood, she admitted to him she was tired and that she wanted to start over, in a place where no one knew them. She said she still had dreams of the sun. She wanted to escape, but she couldn’t do it alone, so in that quiet room still filled with blood, the Winter Soldier agreed to run away with her, because the bauble had affected him too.

He had somehow become loyal to the Black Widow, not the Devil.


	4. Greed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can't tell me that the cover of [Disturbed's Indestructible](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Indestructible.jpg) whom the Winter Soldier's appearance is based on wouldn't make for a sexy demon ;p
> 
> Again, I assume there IS some truth behind legends and fairy tales and whatnot...so, you know, I'm sure lots of Russians find Bucky attractive too.

It was no secret that Greed had an expansive collection of beautiful and shiny things in her vault. At first glance one would mistake her for Pride, because she made a habit of wearing lustrous and polished jewelry and only the finest gowns. However, if one scrutinized her wardrobe, he would realize that Greed consciously dressed like royalty when she was only still one of the Devil’s innumerable and lowly subjects, ranking far below the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow themselves.

Because of her pitiable rank, it was only natural that she would desire for her collection the Winter Soldier, who was considered handsome for one of their race. What would be even better, she thought, would be if the Winter Soldier could be convinced to select her as a mate; even if he already had one, she was certain she could easily dispatch him or her. The demon’s loyalty would come with both visual and political benefits: having Hell’s most dangerous and volatile weapon allied with Greed would not only elevate her rank, it would also help her usurp the Devil’s throne of mangled corpses. Then she would really be Empress of Hell!

Therefore it was a great delight to learn that the Winter Soldier himself requested a meeting with her. It was not as wonderful to learn that the Black Widow, as always, would be by his side. When the three met, the Black Widow instinctively walked in front of the Winter Soldier to protect him. She seemed to know Greed’s intentions. Greed observed the dynamic between the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier. Their gestures toward each other were brief but she could tell that the two demons had somehow grown to care for each other.

“So it _is_ true, ice demon! You _have_ acquired yourself a treacherous whore. Does the King know?” Greed warned to the Winter Soldier while keeping her gaze steady with the Black Widow. “She will corrupt you.” She pushed the Black Widow aside and pulled the Winter Soldier close to her so that their lips almost touched.

“What are you doing?!” The spider cried out. In a moment of weakness, the Black Widow did not realize until too late that one of Greed’s minions had critically wounded her.

“It’s made of poison, just like you, my love,” Greed sneered at the spider.

The Winter Soldier was about to turn to his companion but Greed forced him to stay where he stood.

“Let her die. Let me replace her. Together we can overthrow the King.” Greed whispered to the Winter Soldier, kissing him. She had worked so hard to get to where she was and had trampled hearts and souls along the way. The Winter Soldier was her reward! She deserved this! She had worked too hard for far too long!

The Winter Soldier immediately pulled back from Greed, putting a knife to her throat. “You may be a demon now but you’re still just a poor farmer’s daughter deep down inside!” He snarled defensively, his eyes burning. “Know your place!”

“And I do!” Greed hissed. “I know what I want! Do you?!”

It was at this moment that he looked at the Black Widow, who was bleeding profusely. If he had a heart (and he was sure he didn't), it would have broken at the sight of her.

“If I join you, then what happens to her?”

“She will live.”

The Winter Soldier ignored his companion’s protests (“You can’t trust her!”) and held his breath as he considered this. He was unwilling to see his spider so hurt and he could not imagine a life without her. He did want to be free of this place, but even if he made it to Heaven alone, it would not be the same without her. So the demon ignored his dignity and doomed himself with a few words.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Then _kneel_ before me!” Greed needed the affirmation that she was the queen; no one else was. The Winter Soldier would be her very first subject.

The Black Widow, however, had other ideas. She could die, but she would not let her lover force himself into eternal servitude just to save her. She knew that the Winter Soldier was frightened of something as insignificant as a nightmare; he was afraid to sleep. He did not deserve more of it. He needed a peace that could not be found with Greed.

“You’ll do no such thing!” She screamed. With all of her remaining strength, the spider killed all of Greed’s minions and slashed Greed’s throat with one of her sharp legs. Clutching her throat, Greed fell to the floor, coughing.

“I know what I have!” Greed offered desperately. “Money and all the power you can ever imagine! Please! Let me live! Help me heal! I can protect you!”

The Black Widow’s voice became monotonous. “Stop speaking, you wretch, and this will be a painless death for you.”

“No….no! No!” Greed gurgled. “You can’t!”

The Black Widow plunged one of her venomous legs straight through Greed’s heart. Greed had wanted to be Queen; instead she became one of many cadavers in the Kingdom of Hell. Had she simply accepted her position and not been so ambitious as to threaten two creatures who ranked far above her, she would have lived to see another day.

As for the Black Widow, she and the Winter Soldier looked at each other anxiously.

There was no turning back now; they had to find Heaven before more people threatened to tear them apart.

They were in this together until the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I conveyed the theme of greed (not the name of the Demon) here.


	5. Intermission: The Ritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you lose faith in the ritual it will unbind pretty quickly and one half of the couple dies somehow; it's that delicate. However, the fact that there IS such a ritual means that there have been couples in the past in who have successfully performed and maintained one. (Unfortunately, Wrath and Envy are not part of that group.)
> 
> When I re-read the chapter I thought, "Well THAT sounds familiar!" Turns out I was subconsciously inspired by the [album cover for MCR - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/MCRThreeCheers.jpg)

In their mortal forms, the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow found solace in a quiet secluded area in the forest. They sat next to each other and watched the white specks of light fall down from the night sky. For the spider the light was cold but comforting at the same time.

The Winter Soldier shyly showed his hand to the spider, who cupped it to keep it warm. As she registered what was going on, she gasped. Blood was pouring from his palm down her fingers!

“You’re hurt…who?” She would kill whoever did this to him; how did she not notice?

He only shook his head. No one had hurt him. “Drink.”

“Why?”

“You need to heal.”

It was not the best of excuses, but without question, the spider obeyed her companion because he was the only one she really trusted with her life. Strangely, as she lapped the blood dripping from his veins, he shuddered a little. The sharp intake of his breath gave her pause.

“It’s fine,” the Winter Soldier assured her, slightly embarrassed. He touched the blood still left on her mouth and made to spread some across her cheeks.

“This seems…” The Black Widow looked for the right word. “Familiar.”

“I need this,” the Winter Soldier said hastily, “in case something happens to either of us.”

“What? Nothing will happen…”

The Winter Soldier only gave her a mysterious knife, which she instantly recognized as a ceremonial knife that no demons dared to use. One, the knife itself required too much energy and too much time to find. No one knew how long the search would take; it could take centuries or it could take seconds. It was said that the knife only revealed itself when it wanted to; it had a life of its own. Two, even if the knife chose them, the ritual itself required one's complete trust and faith in it, or else the power of the ritual would diminish and one or both of the people involved in the ritual would die. While demons frequently participated in orgies and other sinful activities, they were not known to perform such an act; demons were usually self-serving and distrustful of the others.

Her lover noticed the look of recognition on her face and gestured at the red ray of light that was wrapping itself around them. “It will link us together, no matter what happens. It means that if one of us strays too far from the other person, we will still find each other. Even if it takes centuries.”

It wasn’t that she was hesitant; she was simply glad that the Winter Soldier put that much faith and trust in her. It was a strange feeling that manifested itself without precedent.

How does someone describe the fondness they had for each other?

Can demons actually feel something like this?

To complete the simple but powerful ritual the Black Widow used the knife and made a deep incision on her palm. Slowly, she gave her hand to the Winter Soldier, who took it in his and licked the blood dripping downward. There was that pleasurable sensation coursing through her as he did so and she closed her eyes tightly to feel it. She wasn’t sure she could breathe, but it didn’t feel horrible. It certainly wasn’t as scary as the other demons made this out to be. She was in pain, but he was diminishing it somehow with every lick.

When the Winter Soldier looked expectantly at his love she held his gaze when she gently touched the blood on his lips and spread it across his face.

Protectively she leaned closer to the other demon and pressed her face against his. He held her warm hand against his cheek and vulnerably gazed into her eyes. The two demons did not do anything beyond that, they did not speak, but they felt their connection to each other strengthen; their life was forever intertwined. The red that enveloped them gently pulsated before it dissipated into the snow.

And somewhere under the night stars, two naïve and innocent demons made an eternal promise to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still debating a "director's cut" of this chapter. There's a more graphic version of it that I had in mind but I didn't feel like it'd emphasize how innocent these two really are


	6. (NEW) Sloth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I modeled Sloth's voice after Reddington. I have no regrets.

The two demons knocked on Sloth’s door and waited... And waited... And waited... They stood outside for so long that the weather in Hell changed from hot to boiling. Finally, a voice rose from behind the door:

“I wasn’t expecting any visitors today. Let me correct myself: I wasn’t expecting any visitors _at all_. Sweet Isabella, be a dear and help me with the door, won’t you?”

The door opened, and the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow entered what could only be described as a scene from Hell’s version of a Greek play. Sloth was lazing next to a pool of water with his servants using large leaves to fan him. Surprisingly, for someone so lazy, for someone who had not moved in centuries, sloth maintained a slim figure. It was said that the only reason he was still alive was because he was too lazy to move, too lazy to die. When the two demons ventured into his domain, he only motioned for another servant to massage his feet.

“It’s a wonder you are still so strong after all these centuries, my lord,” the Winter Soldier complimented him, rather sarcastically, but Sloth didn’t sense it.

“Always with such words!” Sloth made a tremendous effort to smile and wave his hands in the air dramatically. He’d laugh, but he didn’t feel like it at all. “I’d ask you why you are here, but I do believe I already have an idea.” Still, he sniffed the air. Something about the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow’s scent had changed, and not for the better. Was it a bath they needed? Had they really been outside the Devil’s palace for that long?

No…something _else_ was going on. Something far more sinister, far more incomprehensible. The scent was sweet and not burnt, with just a touch of pain and a pinch of pleasure.

“Do I dare ask you what you have done?”

“What _we_ have done?” The Black Widow repeated Sloth’s question back to him. She denied everything.

Sloth motioned for the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow to move closer to him and examined them closely with his beady eyes. They still looked the same as they always did, but there was something – dare he say it? – _angelic_ about the way they carried themselves.

There could only be one reason: they had cursed themselves with that awful, horrible blood ritual! Now he really needed to use up all of that energy he had patiently reserved for centuries.

“You gave your blood to each other!” Sloth cried out incredulously, and suddenly, with his voice, he dissolved the illusion of the beautiful Greek scene into a dark void. The beautiful servants transformed into their true forms: zombies and banshees with putrid skin and missing limbs. The candlelight whispered itself away.

But the two demons resolutely held their ground, resisting the tornado that Sloth’s scream had formed.

“What have you _done_? _What have you done?!_ ”

In reply, the Winter Soldier made a display of kissing his spider and embracing her.

“It is by far the most dangerous of rituals! We can’t trust anyone, you all should know that!”

His furious yells sent the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow kneeling on the floor.

“Reckless! Shameless! Our blood is more sacred than anything else here, second only to our King!”

The two demons didn’t say anything.

“You did it just to promise that…that you would always…” Sloth paused for dramatic effect. “ _Find each other?!_ ” Sloth motioned for his servants to help him steady himself. “Why can’t you leave well enough alone? You had to go falling in love?”

When the demons did not respond to his sneers, he took a deep breath to calm himself and warn them that they would be betrayed; if not by each other, then by someone else in this wretched place.

“You do realize this means that you have both been compromised?" Sloth asked, his heart still beating rapidly. For a moment, he thought he felt...worried, and it made him uncomfortable. That was not a feeling he wanted to live with at all; he would rather live in joyful ignorance, even if all of it was fake. This was not worth it; his experience had been tainted. “You know what? You didn't even do anything but you've persuaded me. I'd rather die than watch this drama you've stirred up for yourselves.”

Everyone had magically returned back to the Greek scene where Sloth was lying alongside a pool of water with his servants at his side.

Sloth didn’t look at them when he admitted, “Let us get this over with. You might as well kill me and my minions anyway because apparently, I’m also too lazy to live now.”

The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow did as they were told.

In the end, it only took a simple show of affection from two young demons for Sloth to finally do something with his life.


	7. Wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very loosely based on Rumple and Peter Pan's sense of self-preservation in OUAT

The name of Wrath for this particular demon was a misnomer. The residents of Hell claimed she was a coward who betrayed everyone; she couldn’t be trusted. But the Devil let Wrath co-exist with him because there was nothing else Wrath could do. This is what made it so infuriating for the demon. She could have died years ago, but the Devil forbade it and made her live to consider everything she could not have, forcing her to admit that she could never feel any positive emotions like she’d once dreamed.

When the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow went to greet Wrath, she was burning under a dark cloud, thinking pensively about a life she could have had. Before they could kill her, Wrath begged them to listen to her story.

She said she thought she had fallen in ‘love’ with another demon once; she was a beautiful demon with eyes the color of roses and a laughter that could cool the fires. They dreamed of escaping here and finding solace elsewhere, in a place where no one would know them. So they enlisted the help of a demon who specialized in making things disappear.

Obviously they were betrayed; the Devil knew everything and saw everything, and intercepted them when they were making their escape. When the time came for Wrath to take a chance at love, she could not do it. Instead, she chose to exchange her own heart to the Devil in return for invincibility and immortality. In a fit of panic, Wrath insisted that this was not her plan all along; it was her lover’s. She watched as her lover was punished by the Devil and eaten alive. She thought her lover would be angry with her, but she only saw an expression of sadness in the other demon’s eyes before she closed her eyes peacefully, accepting her fate. And the Devil, to mock Wrath, gave her the lover’s heart to eat in order to prove her ‘loyalty’ and implanted her lover’s eyes on each palm of her hand. This way, if Wrath ever wanted to cry, she could only see the red eyes of her dead lover.

The Devil kept her alive to force her to relive the memory of the betrayal day after day as if it had taken place in the present. Every single time, she knew she wanted to feel regret, but she couldn’t feel that because she had given her heart to the Devil. The only emotions the Devil had left for her were frustration and rage. She could never turn back the time and she had to live with the knowledge that it was her cowardice that had her living and the other demon dead.

 She observed the way the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow looked protectively at each other and glared at them with her furious eyes.

 “Love is weakness,” Wrath spat out, “love is for children.”

Her words caused the demons to cower in the corner, and her anger subsided for a moment. Wrath remembered the moment she had fallen in love, even though she could not feel any love anymore. Even though she couldn’t feel any regret, the tears flowed out of her eyes and Wrath decided to look at the eyes sewn onto her palms for the first time since her betrayal.

“If the time ever comes, you would sacrifice yourself so that the other one lives?”

The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow clung to each other tightly and nodded.

“Love is sacrifice. Love does not exist.”

The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow left Wrath where she stood, believing that her punishment was worse than death.


	8. Pride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Pride should be wearing a snazzy suit and fedora à la Boardwalk Empire.

When the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow entered Pride’s lair, they discovered the demon wearing a gray and black three-piece suit and matching fedora. The demon was lying casually against a chaise lounge and smoking a cigar. Pride did not have any way to defend himself from them and he did not care. When they entered his room, Pride just sipped another glass of whiskey.

The Winter Soldier threw the knife at the demon, but Pride only moved his head slightly, and the knife missed. The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow watched as Pride only yawned. He was not scared at all.

And that made for a formidable opponent.

“You’re here to kill me?” Pride asked coolly, still drinking his whiskey. He only stared into the distance and did not look at them.

The Winter Soldier responded with yes while the Black Widow clung onto him nervously.

Pride set his glass down on the table next to him and stood up. “Let’s see what you can do, then, shall we?”

It was one of the tougher fights for the Winter Soldier. Pride appeared to be defenseless, but his true weapon was his unwavering confidence in himself. No matter what the Winter Soldier did, Pride never showed fear. That alone made the Winter Soldier feel as though he were about to die even though he was clearly winning. After hours of desperation, the Winter Soldier finally had an opportunity to destroy the man…

But he hesitated. He could feel the Black Widow’s fear and he could hear her tell him without words that she did not want more death.

“I’m not afraid of death,” Pride grinned, baring all of his sharp teeth. “Why would you hesitate?” He went into a monologue about how hesitation was the death of any creature, and then the answer to his own question came to him.

“You’re doing it for _her_.” He nodded at the spider standing next to the Winter Soldier.

The Winter Soldier only held the spider closer to him.

Pride only shrugged. “I never thought I would see something like this,” he chuckled. “Two demons in love with each other? How often does that happen to us?” The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow could not understand what he was saying, but Pride knew what it was all the same. To him, a love between two demons was a miracle, one better than the love between a demon and an angel. It was the ultimate slap in the face to the Devil himself, who thrived purely on hate and could never understand how such an emotion could exist between his soldiers. Pride assured the spider that death was the path he had to take. Everyone lives and everyone dies, that’s just how the world works, even in a place like Hell. He relished in knowing that someday, even the Devil himself would die. He only regretted that he couldn’t live long enough to see it happen.

“My story is done.”

Pride would let the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow do what they came here to do, and only requested that the Black Widow place a red carnation on his chest after he was dead. He preferred that a beautiful creature like her be the one to send him off into the great unknown. Pride joked that even in death, he still wanted to look his best, and calmly adjusted his tie and smoothed his hair. He made sure to brush the dust away from his suit.

He only had one last warning for them before he left. “You shouldn’t believe that your love for each other is above all this. If He sent you to kill me, then He will certainly send someone to kill you now.” He laughed. “Before a love like yours can stand the test of time, it must survive the tribulations. That’s not easy to do. Demons and angels who believed they were ‘above all this’ end up failing.” As an example, Pride briefly mentioned the Devil's abandoned plaything from centuries ago. He smiled nostalgically at the innocence of the two younger demons. There had been a time when he thought nothing would kill him, when he thought he was invincible. But now all that was left was his dignity.

Pride did not want to be killed execution-style. He would rather die standing where he was. That was all he wanted. So the Winter Soldier granted him this request. The demon took a deep breath and said, “I’m as ready as I will ever be.” He didn’t flinch when the Winter Soldier pressed the barrel of the pistol against his head. He didn’t close his eyes and chose to stare down the gun.

“Do it.”

The Winter Soldier pulled the trigger. A flash of light, and the red streamed from behind the demon’s head. The body slowly fell backward and landed perfectly against the floor so that only Pride’s best features and angles were shown under the light. Even in his death, the demon cared about his appearance. As the Black Widow placed a single red carnation on his chest, she gasped as she saw the body’s expression.

Even in death, Pride was still smiling in defiance to the Devil who had him killed.


	9. Envy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Envy's character is very loosely based on someone from DmC.

Envy was a myth, a legend. No one believed he was real. The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow both knew that centuries ago he had been the lieutenant to the King of Hell himself. There was speculation as to what happened to him. The other imps and demons said he had fallen in love with an angel. But love was an emotion that was so foreign to them. What did it feel like? Would it kill them? (In the end, only the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier would ever be able to answer that question.)

Envy was difficult to find. The Devil had not used him as a plaything for so long that he’d forgotten where he’d buried the demon. All he knew was that it was time to dispose of Envy, because he was no longer fun or useful. Releasing the demon was out of the question, because to the King of Hell, Envy was still a threat and needed to die.

The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow eventually found Envy chained deep underneath a mountain of ash. He was so old the wrinkles drooped down from his cheeks. His hair was so silver that they glowed. He had his eyes gouged out years ago when he felt that he had nothing to live for anymore, because he knew he would never be able to see the one thing that mattered to him most. His face was so void of meaning that the two captains doubted Envy would escape and seek revenge. They told the demon they would spare him, and Envy only laughed sadly in their faces.

He explained that he had fallen in love with an angel; how this could ever happen, he couldn’t understand but it did. She had their children, twins, inside her when it all fell apart. The Devil set her wings ablaze and made her fall to the earth. She bore their children alone and taught them how to be mortal.

“But I can never see them.”

For his betrayal, the Devil cursed Envy so that if he ever set foot in the mortal realm, his family would die even if they never knew he was there.

“Our children need to live, and for that to happen, they will never know what I look like. She knows that.” The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow guessed he was referring to his angel.

Envy wrested the Winter Soldier’s knife from him and stabbed his own heart with it.

“What are you doing?!” The Winter Soldier screamed at him, but Envy did not respond. The red blood flowed from his chest. He smiled wistfully as he looked at the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow. He saw in their eyes a time and a moment he could never have again.

 “Do you love each other?” Envy asked simply.

The two captains of Hell could not say anything to this, but looked at each other curiously, wondering if the word “love” was a better description of their loyalty to each other. Even though they weren’t fully aware of what “love” meant, they nodded anyway.

Envy clutched both the Winter Soldier’s and the Black Widow’s hands and said he knew what they wanted to do. He had tried the same thing with his angel. "I hope it works out for you." He said. "I wish I could have your hope, I wish I could feel that way again...but it's already too late for me."

With a sigh, Envy muttered a name and dissolved into dust.

He was gone.


	10. The Punishment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It should be noted again that I'm writing these chapters out of order.
> 
> Remember when Death from Supernatural told Dean he could only save Sam or Adam? Still hate that.

Two lesser demons pushed the Black Widow away from the Winter Soldier and kicked her close to the lethe nearby.The Winter Soldier tried to reach her, but the demons only held him back. He knows he is stronger than this, but if he killed the demons what would his King do to his spider?

“You betrayed me,” the Devil snarled. “Did you really think you could run away? I see everything in this world. My eyes are everywhere.”

The Devil shook his eyes and said that he had a plan in case his two captains ever betrayed him.

The Executioner materialized from the black wind wearing a dark horned mask with maggots writhing out of her eye sockets. In her hands was an axe that was hungry for murder. Her mouth opened wide as she wailed, spilling black ooze. She marched, machine-like, toward the Black Widow, her axe ready.

“No! Leave her alone!”

The Winter Soldier shed tears of crystals, and suddenly, from those tears, emerged one of the last angels, who had miraculously escaped his massacre. The angel told him he absolved the Winter Soldier for everything he had done and told him he knew of his plight with the spider. But there was still too much damage in Heaven and not enough power left for the angels who still lived.

“I only have enough energy to save one of you.”

The Winter Soldier already knew the answer to the angel’s dilemma.

When the angel grabbed the spider and floated upward toward the sky, toward the sun the spider could not comprehend what happened to her. She saw the Winter Soldier cover his face with a hood and realized what he had done. “No, you can’t do this to me!” One of her spindly legs tried to grab onto the Winter Soldier, but he only let go of her.

She screamed again as the Devil tossed her lover into the lethe. As the Winter Soldier emerged from the lethe, the armor covering his body had dissolved and there was only ice covering his cracked bones and a shadowy leash chaining him down to the flames. He thought he had just been born, even though his bones showed signs of age. He believed that this was how his life was: cracked bones filled with ice, no companion, and a chain forbidding him from freedom. No heart. No light. For some strange reason he looked up at the sky, and saw an angel holding a spider streaked in vermilion.

The spider screamed at him, “Remember that I’ll come back for you! I’ll find you again!”

A bauble of light formed at the spider’s words and floated down to the Winter Soldier, who did not throw it away but kept the light wrapped around his finger like a wedding band long forgotten. Even though he could never know why, and even though the Executioner would pull him downward every single time, he would still look at the light every now and then and still try to climb upward and upward from the flames.

Because somewhere in the cold of his heart, there was a comforting warmth that would always stay with the Winter Soldier.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the folktale that the locals probably would have spread about James and Natasha if they were aware of what James and Natasha were doing. I mean, sure, the two would be pretty stealthy, but I always feel like someone would know what was going on. It was a rough story to write! I wanted to challenge myself to make this as visually violent as Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill (pts 1 and 2) and write about some themes that are frequently covered by extreme heavy metal bands and others.
> 
> Consider: did any of it really happen to James and Natasha, or is it just part of the folklore? And if it did happen, how?
> 
> The Winter Soldier in this legend would probably look like the guy from the [Disturbed-Indestructible album cover](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Indestructible.jpg). The Black Widow's human form resembles the [spider demon from Charmed](http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101026043807/charmed/images/archive/b/bb/20101121111646!Charmed_Spider_Demon.jpg), but with red hair and a red dress.


End file.
